2024 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and INC/USNC‐URSI Radio Science Meeting (AP‐S/INC‐USNC‐URSI) | 979‐8‐3503‐6990‐8/24/$31.

00 ©2024 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/AP‐S/INC‐USNC‐URSI52054.2024.10686740

A Dual-band Dual-polarized Reflectarray Unit Cell

for mmWave Terrestrial Applications
Ali Ghadimi(1) , Elham Baladi(1) , and Mohammad S. Sharawi(2)
(1)
Department of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
(2)
Blue Origin LLC, Kent, WA, United States
[email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]

Abstract—The focus of this paper is the introduction of a ver-

satile, dual-band, dual-polarized reflectarray unit cell engineered
for mmWave applications. This unit cell is realized using cross
and ring elements placed in an interleaved format, integrated
with line stubs that effectively regulate the phase response. Each
arm of the cross resonator accommodates two stubs, while the
ring resonator is equipped with a total of four stubs. Through
the manipulation of the line lengths, the unit cell demonstrates
remarkable adaptability across a broad frequency spectrum,
operating from 25 GHz to 35 GHz (yielding a 33.33% fractional
bandwidth) in the lower band and from 35 GHz to 45 GHz
(showcasing a 25% fractional bandwidth) in the higher band, all
while minimizing losses. The unit cell’s performance is thoroughly
evaluated through comprehensive full-wave simulations. Fig. 1. The proposed dual-band dual-polarized reflectarray unit cell.

I. I NTRODUCTION TABLE I
D IMENSIONS OF THE PROPOSED UNIT CELL .
The advantage of the millimeter-wave (mmWave) bands
lies in their capacity for high-bandwidth operations, thereby P [mm] R [mm] L[mm] L1 [mm] L2 [mm] θring [deg]
5.35 0.39 2.1 0.15 - 1.2 0.15 - 1.8 5 - 40
facilitating the transmission of data at exceptionally high
rates. Nonetheless, the application of these bands faces chal-
lenges due to the reduced signal propagation ranges caused
by increased free-space propagation losses. To combat this unit cell was introduced, employing crosses and dipoles as key
limitation effectively, array antennas are promising solutions, elements in its design.
compensating for free-space path losses through increased
antenna gains. Reflectarray antennas stand out as a particularly II. D ESIGN AND SIMULATIONS
compelling choice compared to counterparts such as phased Initially, the microstrip cross and ring resonators are in-
array antennas and parabolic reflectors due to their notable dividually designed to operate in their corresponding target
advantages of offering reduced losses while maintaining a frequency bands. A substrate of RT/duroid 5880, with a
planar profile. This renders reflectarray antennas as promising dielectric constant of 2.2 and a thickness of 0.7874 mm has
candidates for addressing the challenges associated with signal been used. The ring resonator, due to its smaller dimensions,
attenuation in the mmWave regime [1]. is tailored for operation in the upper frequency band. In order
The design process for reflectarray antennas begins by creating to obtain a wider phase bandwidth, stub lines were introduced
a suitable unit cell characterized by a high reflection coefficient to both resonators, functioning as transmission lines to intro-
and a wide (ideally 360◦ ) phase range. Geometrical Phase duce capacitive and inductive effects that adjust the operation
Shift technique suggests altering the physical dimensions and frequencies. Furthermore, stub lines result in the miniaturiza-
shapes of the unit cells to induce the desired phase shift in the tion of the resonant elements and allow the low band and
reflected wave. By varying the size, shape, or orientation of high band elements to be placed further apart to reduce the
the individual elements (such as patches or dipoles) within the mutual coupling effects. By incorporating additional stubs,
unit cell, the direction of the reflected beam can be controlled precise control over the unit cell bandwidth is obtained. After
[2]. thorough consideration of in-house fabrication constraints, a
Furthermore, the incorporation of dual-band and dual- configuration featuring two stubs for each arm of the lower
polarized features significantly enhances communication ca- band cross resonator (LBCR) and a total of four stubs for
pabilities [3]–[5]. In [5], a dual-band circular-polarized recon- the higher band ring resonator (HBRR) was determined to be
figurable antenna was introduced, employing an interleaved optimal. The final step of the design involved merging the
technique to achieve two distinct controllable beams. In [3], an two optimized resonators into an integrated single-layer unit
innovative tri-band, polarization-independent THz reflectarray cell. This combined unit, as illustrated in Fig. 1, strategically

979-8-3503-6990-8/24/$31.00 ©2024 IEEE 2385 APS 2024

Authorized licensed use limited to: Queen Mary University of London. Downloaded on January 28,2025 at 22:51:12 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 (a) (b)

Fig. 2. Surface current distribution at (a) 30 GHz, and (b) 40 GHz.

Fig. 3. Phase of the reflection coefficient versus L2 when adjusting the LBCR
while the HBRR is fixed.
positions the LBCR at the unit cell’s center and the HBRR at
the corners. This arrangement facilitates simulations using a
full-wave electromagnetic simulator, using Floquet ports and
periodic boundary conditions. Two distinct (cross and ring)
geometries are deliberately chosen to achieve different current
distribution profiles and further reduce the mutual coupling
effects, which is verified through simulation results. Fig. 2
demonstrates the surface currents at the center frequency of
each band, confirming that when one element is resonant,
surface currents are very weak on the other element. The unit
cell under discussion boasts several key features: a high band-
width, dual-band response, dual linear polarization, enhanced
control over the phase response, ease of fabrication, minimal Fig. 4. Phase of the reflection coefficient versus θring when adjusting the
mutual coupling effect between the elements, and low losses. HBRR while the LBCR is fixed.
As shown in Fig. 3, the parameter ”L2 ” controls the phase
response for the lower band resonator from 25 GHz to 35 GHz.
In fact, the parameter ”L1 ” may also be used for finer control GHz to 35 GHz in the lower band, delivering a substantial
over the phase response, which is not demonstrated here in the fractional bandwidth of 33.33%. Similarly, the unit cell can
interest of brevity. The parameter ”θring ” enables frequency operate within the range of 35 GHz to 45 GHz in the
(and hence phase) shifts for the higher band resonator from 35 upper band, exhibiting a notable fractional bandwidth of 25%.
GHz to 45 GHz, as shown in Fig. 4. Furthermore, according In practice, an operating bandwidth of 4 GHz around the
to Figs. 3 and 4, the phase responses as a function of the center frequencies of 28 and 38 GHz is sufficient for the
geometrical control parameters show the expected smooth S- proposed mmWave terrestrial applications. Importantly, this
curve profiles across both operating bands. It should be noted versatile performance is achieved while minimizing losses,
that the individual bandwidth of each element is much wider highlighting the unit cell’s potential for enhancing terrestrial
than the stated numbers. Nonetheless, the numbers are reported communication systems operating in the mmWave spectrum.
such that they avoid overlaps between the two operating bands.
R EFERENCES
This highlights the adaptability of the proposed unit cell in the
[1] P. I. Theoharis, R. Raad, F. Tubbal, M. U. A. Khan, and A. Jamalipour,
design of reflectarray antennas, emphasizing its versatility and “Wideband reflectarrays for 5g/6g: A survey,” IEEE Open Journal of
vast applicability within the field. Antennas and Propagation, vol. 3, pp. 871–901, 2022.
In addition to the previously outlined features, the unit cell’s [2] E. Carrasco, J. A. Encinar, and Y. Rahmat-Samii, “Reflectarray antennas:
A review,” in Forum for Electromagnetic Research Methods and Appli-
phase range for the LBCR and HBRR approximately spans cation Technologies (FERMAT), vol. 16, 2016.
340◦ and 320◦ , respectively. [3] H. Hasani, M. Tamagnone, S. Capdevila, C. F. Moldovan, P. Maoddi,
A. M. Ionescu, C. Peixeiro, J. R. Mosig, A. K. Skrivervik, and
III. C ONCLUSION J. Perruisseau-Carrier, “Tri-band, polarization-independent reflectarray
at terahertz frequencies: Design, fabrication, and measurement,” IEEE
In conclusion, this study has introduced a novel dual- Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology, vol. 6, no. 2, pp.
band and dual-polarized reflectarray unit cell tailored for 268–277, 2016.
operation within mmWave terrestrial communication systems. [4] Y. Chen, L. Chen, H. Wang, X. T. Gu, and X. W. Shi, “Dual-band
crossed-dipole reflectarray with dual-band frequency selective surface,”
The proposed unit cell leverages the utilization of two distinct IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 12, pp. 1157–
(cross and ring) resonators, employing the stub-line theory 1160, 2013. [Online]. Available: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stampPDF/
to manipulate the phase responses effectively and achieve getPDF.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6589122&ref=
[5] E. Baladi, M. Y. Xu, N. Faria, J. Nicholls, and S. V. Hum, “Dual-
a high bandwidth. By adjusting line lengths, the unit cell band circularly polarized fully reconfigurable reflectarray antenna for
showcases impressive adaptability across a wide frequency satellite applications in the ku-band,” IEEE Transactions on Antennas
spectrum. Specifically, it operates within a range from 25 and Propagation, vol. 69, no. 12, pp. 8387–8396, 2021.

2386

Authorized licensed use limited to: Queen Mary University of London. Downloaded on January 28,2025 at 22:51:12 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.